Business and Human Rights 2025

BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Chris Engels and Julie Devos, Claeys & Engels

Belgium is the first country in the world to give sex workers full worker status (official employ - ment contract, access to social security, etc). 2.2.4 Transparency and Reporting Requirements In Belgium, (large) companies are subject to sev - eral public reporting obligations relating to BHR, particularly in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), non-financial reporting, and transparency. These obligations stem primarily from EU legislation and corresponding national laws aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). Belgium transposed the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) into national law via the Act of 3 September 2017 on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large companies and groups. Under the NFRD, large entities of public inter - est (eg, listed companies, banks, and insurers with more than 500 employees) are required to disclose information about their operations’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts. However, the European Commission found that the information disclosed under the NFRD was often incomplete or inconsistent. The NFRD has been revised and replaced by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The European Commission introduced the CSRD to enhance the scope and depth of sustainability reporting requirements. This direc - tive mandates that companies publish their sus - tainability information in a standardised format and ensures that it is independently audited. Similar to the NFRD, the CSRD applies to large entities of public interest. However, the CSRD

broadens the scope of the previous directive by extending the reporting obligations to: • large companies, even if they are not consid - ered as public interest entities; and • listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), excluding micro-enterprises. The definitions of micro, small, medium-sized and large enterprises refer to existing concepts in accounting law. Sustainability reporting is consolidated at the highest level within the European Union. Sub - sidiaries can then refer to the consolidated information of their parent company. The new requirements also target companies based out - side the EU that have activities within the EU and that meet the same size criteria. The CSRD requires companies to report both from the perspective of the risk and impact of ESG factors on the company and from the per - spective of the company’s ESG impact. The information must be provided from the point of view of the enterprise itself. However, it should also gradually reflect its value chain, ie, its prod - ucts and services, business relations, and sup - ply chain. Once the company has fulfilled its reporting obli - gations, the report itself must be audited by an independent and licensed auditor. The CSRD had to be transposed into national law by 6 July 2024. However, Belgium and sev - eral other member states missed the deadline, prompting the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings.

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